KUCHING: In the aftermath of last month’s 13th general election (GE-13), the Barisan Nasional (BN) needs to build confidence among the Malays, especially in Sarawak to avoid an exodus from the BN to the opposition, a Sarawak social media advocate said yesterday.
Sarawak Social Media Association president Wan Abdillah Edruce Wan Abdul Rahman said BN, being a multi-racial party was the best platform of choice but that choice needed to be relayed to the Malay society, who had always seen it as the party to be with.
“We see the current trend of the Malay younger generation becoming rebellious and joining the opposition just to have that extra attention, which is obviously lacking at the moment, and, if we are complacent, the new generation might turn that (support for BN) into history,” he told Bernama here.
“We need to start caring and give them the sense of belonging, we need to connect and engage among ourselves and communicate with each other.
“We need to build confidence among the Malays and move forward for the betterment of the race and its future generation,” he said, adding that the issue needed to be immediately addressed to avoid such an exodus.
In making the voice of the grassroots heard, he said, there was nothing wrong to relay the plights of the Malays, especially the coastal and rural populace, and more so in the multi-racial society that Sarawakians and Malaysians, as a whole, lived in.
“Former Prime Minister Tun (Dr) Mahathir Mohamad was once quoted as saying ‘Melayu mudah lupa,’ not that we are forgotten by anybody but we ourselves are to be blamed for it as we have not voiced out our predicament and let the authority know the state of the Malay community and what’s lacking,” Wan Abdillah said.
He also hoped that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had been informed of the reality on the ground, including depleted schools, deteriorating lifestyle among the youths in certain community, the low income group in coastal areas, the lack of development and infrastructure, economic dependence on others, lack of high calibre professionals for the future and inadequate recreational activities for healthy living.
Not pointing the finger at anyone, he said, the people should not be contented with life and live with what was being provided, instead they must take the initiative to improve their lifestyle and have a better society. — Bernama